Guilty pleasures
By NewsPress Now
Andrew Tate
can have over $3 million seized from him in tax dispute
LONDON | A British court ruled Wednesday that police can seize more than $3.3 million to cover years of unpaid taxes from influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan.
The Devon and Cornwall Police force went to court to claim the money, held in seven frozen bank accounts, from the Tates and a woman identified only as J.
At Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring ruled that financial transactions by the brothers, including transferring almost $12 million into an account in the name of J, were a “straightforward cheat” of the tax authorities.
“I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that they have engaged in long-standing, deliberate conduct in order to evade their tax,” Golspring said in his ruling.
The proceedings are civil, which carries a lower standard of proof than criminal cases, so Goldspring only had to decide on the balance of probabilities whether the Tates had evaded tax.
A lawyer for the police force said that the Tates were “serial” tax evaders who failed to pay any tax on 21 million pounds in revenue from their online businesses, including War Room, Hustlers’ University, Cobra Tate and OnlyFans, between 2014 and 2022.
Andrew Tate, 38, accused the government of “outright theft” for freezing his accounts and seizing “everything they could.”
“This is not justice; it’s a coordinated attack on anyone who dares to challenge the system,” Tate said in a statement. “This raises serious questions about the lengths authorities will go to silence dissent.”
At a hearing in July, attorney Sarah Clarke quoted from a video posted online by Andrew Tate, in which he said: “When I lived in England I refused to pay tax.”
She said J — who can’t be named because of a court order — wasn’t involved with the brothers’ businesses.
A lawyer for the brothers, Martin Evans, argued that the bank transfers were “entirely orthodox” for people who run online businesses. He said the siblings spent money on a number of “exotic motor cars,” but did nothing illegal.
Court documents show an estimated total of 2,683,345.88 pounds (about $3.4 million) is held in the seven accounts police can now seize.
Devon and Cornwall Police said after the ruling that “from the outset, we have aimed to demonstrate that Andrew and Tristan Tate evaded taxes and laundered money through bank accounts located in Devon,” a county in southwest England. The force said it would not comment further until the end of a 28-day appeal period.
Andrew Tate is a former kickboxer and dual British-U.S. citizen who has amassed more than 10 million followers on X. He has been banned from TikTok, YouTube and Facebook after the platforms accused him of posting hate speech and misogynistic comments.
He and Tristan Tate, 36, face criminal allegations in Romania, including human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to exploit women. They are set to be extradited to the U.K. once those proceedings are over to face further allegations of rape and human trafficking.
The Tates deny all the allegations.
Megan Thee
Stallion seeks restraining order against Tory Lanez
LOS ANGELES | Megan Thee Stallion asked a court on Tuesday to issue a restraining order against Tory Lanez, who she says is harassing her from prison through surrogates as he serves a 10-year sentence for shooting her in the feet.
The petition filed by the hip-hop star in Los Angeles Superior Court asks the judge to prevent the Canadian rapper Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, from using third parties to continue the same online harassment of Megan, whose legal name is Megan Pete, that he engaged in and encouraged before his imprisonment.
“Even now, while behind bars, Mr. Peterson shows no signs of stopping,” the petition says. “Despite being sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting Ms. Pete, Mr. Peterson continues to to subject her to repeated trauma and revictimization.”
The petition says prison call logs from Lanez at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi show that he is coordinating attacks on Megan’s credibility.
An email seeking comment from Lanez’s lawyers was not immediately returned. A court hearing on the order is scheduled for Jan. 9.
The filing says bloggers acting on Lanez behalf continue to cast doubt on her allegations, making false claims including that the gun and bullet fragments in the case are missing.
The petition says the protective order issued to prevent the previous harassment is no longer in effect, which it calls a loophole and flaw in the criminal justice system.
In December 2022, Lanez was convicted of three felonies: assault with a semiautomatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
A judge rejected a motion for a new trial from Lanez’s lawyers, who are appealing his conviction.
In August of last year, he received the 10-year sentence, bringing what seemed to be a conclusion to a three-year legal and cultural saga that saw two careers, and lives, thrown into turmoil.
The petition says that one blogger in particular, Elizabeth Milagro Cooper, whom Megan is suing in a separate lawsuit, is acting as Lanez “puppet and mouthpiece.” She alleges Cooper is spreading falsehoods on social media and YouTube, saying in one video posted to X, “Can you even prove she was shot?” and calling her a “professional victim” in another post.
Cooper’s attorney Michael Pancier declined comment on the California petition, and said in an email that their forthcoming response to the separate federal lawsuit against her will speak for itself.
A previous motion to dismiss Megan’s lawsuit said it makes “dubious legal claims” and “irrelevant and impertinent allegations.”
Megan testified during the trial that in July 2020, after they left a party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills home, Lanez fired the gun at the back of her feet and shouted for her to dance as she walked away from an SUV in which they had been riding. She revealed who had fired the gun only months later.
The case created a firestorm in the hip-hop community, churning up issues including the reluctance of Black victims to speak to police, gender politics in hip-hop, online toxicity, protecting Black women and the ramifications of misogynoir, a particular brand of misogyny Black women experience.
Megan Thee Stallion, now 29, was already a major rising star at the time of the shooting, and her music’s popularity has soared since. She won a Grammy for best new artist in 2021, and she had No. 1 singles with “Savage,” featuring Beyoncé, and as a guest on Cardi B’s “WAP.”
Lanez, 32, began releasing mixtapes in 2009 and saw a steady rise in popularity, moving on to major label albums. His last two reached the top 10 on Billboard’s charts.
Pharrell Williams is named a UNESCO goodwill ambassador
PARIS | Pop star and fashion designer Pharrell Williams was named UNESCO’s goodwill ambassador for artistic education and entrepreneurship on Tuesday in Paris, continuing his cultural dominance of the French capital as Louis Vuitton menswear artistic director and performer at Notre Dame Cathedral’s reopening earlier this month.
Williams said he hoped to “deepen that sense of unity and togetherness” in work that “evens the odds for marginalized communities.”
He also spoke about his impoverished youth, adding: “Growing up in Virginia, never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be given an opportunity like this one.”
The role of goodwill ambassador for the Paris-based U.N. cultural agency involves promoting its initiatives that include protecting Indigenous cultures, advancing education and health care for women, raising awareness about genocide prevention and safeguarding cultural heritage.
The U.N. agency said Williams will be “a mentor and role model for young creators, particularly in Africa, where UNESCO supports the development of cultural industries.”
Williams joins a list of goodwill ambassadors that includes U.S. jazz musician Herbie Hancock, Brazilian artist Vik Muniz and Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase.
Williams has been particularly visible in Paris this year. Shortly before the Paris Olympics, his role as Louis Vuitton menswear designer took center stage during a star-studded event at UNESCO’s headquarters. The show, celebrating the beauty of human skin, featured models wearing garments in shades representing the diverse hues of humanity.
UNESCO leaders hope that Williams’ global influence and deep connections to fashion and music will draw fresh attention to the agency’s work.
Williams is American, and his selection as goodwill ambassador also may be highlighting the readmission of the United States to UNESCO last year.
The U.S. exit under President Donald Trump cited alleged anti-Israel bias within the agency. The decision followed a 2011 decision by UNESCO to include Palestine as a member state, which led the U.S. and Israel to cease financing for the agency.
The U.S. return under President Joe Biden was marked by a flag-raising ceremony attended by U.S. First Lady Jill Biden.
—From AP reports
